The Australian Red Cross issued a swift apology last month after one of its staff members inadvertently updated the organsiation’s Facebook page with the wrong information.
Responding to an enquiry on why sexually active gay men can not give blood, the staff member commented that ‘we know all gays are engaged in risky behaviour, just like we know all people who have lived in the UK have mad cow, or that all people that get tattoo’s will be infected by dirty needles’.
The comment quickly drew scathing criticism on social media after it was reported on RTRFM’s All Things Queer radio program. By the next morning the comment had been removed and the organisation had issued an appology.
Kathy Bowlen, National Media Manager for The Red Cross explained to OUTinPerth that the organisation is reguarlly being questioned on its controvertial stance and highlighted that a consistent answer had been given on its Facebook page on an almost daily basis. On this occasion the team member had accidently missed out the key word ‘not’ several times.
Bowlen accepts that the Red Cross will be continually explaining their position on this topic, ‘I think this policy will always been controvertial because there are some people who see this as a gay rights issue, as where we see it as a safety first issue… statisitical evidence keeps showing us that sadly nearly almost 90% of newly diagnosed cases – year in year out – are from the gay male population.’ Bowlen highlighted that the policy is set on advice from leading health organisations.
